Browsing Posts published on December 17, 2013

“They have nothing to do with my life.” Pandas are lovable creatures, diplomats of a gentler politics, and they have fascinated Americans since the first of them arrived at the National Zoo during the years of the Nixonian détente with their native China. In that country, reports Foreign Policy, many people, it seems, are mystified by the American fascination with Ailuropoda melanoleuca (the binomial meaning “cat foot black and white”).

The occasion for Chinese commentary was the naming of the latest panda to be born at the Zoo, Bao Bao, on December 1. She will make her first public appearance in January—barring another government shutdown, of course—and is expected to draw the huge crowds that so bemuse the Chinese commentators quoted by the Foreign Policy blogger. continue reading…

"Service Animal" Scammers (New Yorker): An increasing number of your neighbors have been keeping company with their pets in human-only establishments simply by claiming that the creatures are their licensed companion animals and are necessary to their mental well-being.